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204.0 Aluminum vs. AISI 321 Stainless Steel

204.0 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 321 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (4, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.

For each property being compared, the top bar is 204.0 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 321 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 90 to 120
170 to 210
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 71
200
Elongation at Break, % 5.7 to 7.8
34 to 50
Fatigue Strength, MPa 63 to 77
220 to 270
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
77
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 230 to 340
590 to 690
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 180 to 220
220 to 350

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 390
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 170
870
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1430
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 580
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 880
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 120
16
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 19
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 29 to 34
2.4
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 87 to 100
2.7

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 11
16
Density, g/cm3 3.0
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.0
3.2
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
45
Embodied Water, L/kg 1150
140

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 12 to 23
190 to 230
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 220 to 350
130 to 310
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 46
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 21 to 31
21 to 25
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 28 to 36
20 to 22
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 46
4.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 12 to 18
13 to 15

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 93.4 to 95.5
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.080
Chromium (Cr), % 0
17 to 19
Copper (Cu), % 4.2 to 5.0
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.35
65.3 to 74
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.15 to 0.35
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.1
0 to 2.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.050
9.0 to 12
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.1
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.2
0 to 0.75
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Tin (Sn), % 0 to 0.050
0
Titanium (Ti), % 0.15 to 0.3
0 to 0.7
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.1
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0